Night Crew

by NFire

Chapter 3

Hangfire awoke to a blazing headache, “Oh stars, way way too much cider.” by the way her tummy rumbled, far too many grilled vegetables.

Making her way to the bathroom, she turned the faucets on, running a seriously hot tub full, with lots of bubbles, she liked that, could bury her troubles away in a soak. Staring into the mirror, a haggard face looked back, a bit bleary eyed, her amber and gold mane sticking out in every which way. She sighed, it was getting to be evening, and she had to prepare for her first night on the crew.

Running a hoof through her mane, she turned off the faucets, almost drooling in anticipation of a nice, hot soak.

A knocking at the door shattered the moment of peace.

Closing her eyes, she put a hoof along her muzzle and sighed, “Seriously?” Giving in to fate, she brushed her mane quickly, not as nice as she’d like, but good enough for government work. Trotting down the hallway, eyeing the banister on the stairs as a quick way to get down to the ground floor, and immediately discarding it as a “Bad Idea”, quotes intended, one of her mother’s phrases. Which, to Hangfire’s enjoyment, she usually ignored, getting into trouble as a young filly, but as she grew older, she got a ‘bit’ wiser.. Not to say she didn’t enjoy a good pranking now and then.

Grabbing the handle, she opened the front door, seeing her friend Bon Bon there, “Heya Bons, what’s up?” Bon Bon was a great friend, Lyra as well, though she really wasn’t sure why Lyra seemed a bit off, but that’s okay, she liked ‘em both, good ponies.

Bon Bon’s cerulean eyes glimmered as she saw the state her friend was in, “ ‘Fire! Hey! Did you hear what happened at Pokey’s last night?” Her blue mane bobbed up and down in excitement, “They had to call the Emergency crew, appears there was a fight and some stallion got clobbered!”

Hangfire tried, she really did, to not look guilty, to not look away, to say SOMETHING to Bon Bon that wasn’t going to be immediately suspicious. To say she failed dramatically, is like saying Rarity just mildly disliked being dirty, the understatement of the year.

“Uh, wow, hope he’s okay?” Her voice raised at the end of the statement into a sort of squeak, as she grinned as best she could, presenting her best face forward.

Bon Bon’s eyes narrowed as she looked a bit askance at her friend, “You know something.”

“I don’t! I swear, just went for drinks last night, some food, heck you know me! I don’t bother anyone!” One forehoof rubbed the other as she smiled again to Bon Bon, her violet eyes betraying everything.

The beige pony pushed Hangfire back into the living room, shutting the door with a back hoof and glaring at her friend, “You did something, was that YOU?” Her blue eyes pinned Hangfire right to the floor.

Hangfire couldn’t help it, the blush rose in her cheeks as she rubbed a hoof along the back of her head, she stared down at the floor and made a reply. Along with that explosive temper, she just couldn’t lie, it wasn’t in her, “I might have..well...hitsomeonewithamugfullofciderandknockedafewteethout....” She studiously avoided BonBon’s eyes.

The beige pony’s ear’s perked up, leaning in to hear the run on sentence as it got lower and lower, “What? You did what?”

Hangfire closed her eyes, lowering her ears, giving a dramatic sigh and saying slower this time, “I might have hit someone with a mug full of cider and knocked a few teeth out...okay?”

“Oh sweet Celestia Hangfire, WHY? I’m your friend, I love you to death, but you keep doing this!”

The violet eyes returned upwards, giving Bon Bon a dead stare, “He was grabbing my pl..er..backside.”, forgoing the vulgar term for a moment, “I told him to back off, and he seemed to think since I was there alone we’d go back to HIS place and I’d give him a bit of fun!” She hmphed and let her hindquarters slap down on the floor, crossing her forelegs, “He was a jerk!”

Bon Bon closed her eyes and thought a moment, “‘Fire, seriously, you need to stop doing that.”

“What do you mean ‘stop doing that’? I don’t do it alot! Not like I go out at night thinking, “Hey! I’m gonna go wreck someone’s day today!” She flapped her fore hooves around while talking, “I’m not a bad person! I don’t go looking for trouble, but NO one grabs my backside, and expects me to like it without being invited!”

Bon Bon nodded, “I see your point,” rubbing her forehead for a moment before setting down herself, quiet dropped in for a few moments as they stared at each other. “You seriously hit him with a mug of cider?” A smile was starting to crack her stern demeanor now.

Hangfire nodded, a smile starting on her face as well, “Oh yeah, you know those big heavy mugs they use at Pokey’s?” Bon Bon nodded. “I reared back and clobbered him with all I had! The DJ was commenting when I left about if someone had lost their teeth she had em in the Lost and Found!”

Bon Bon couldn’t hold it anymore, she burst out laughing, holding her stomach and rolling around on the floor. “Oh moon and stars Hang, seriously? I can’t wait to tell Lyra about this! Oh she’s gonna laugh!”

Hangfire rolled her eyes, laughing with her friend, laying on her side and just letting the hilarity out as she remembered what had happened that night. She laid it all out for Bon Bon, from the dreams of empire building to the final crack as the mug connected to the stallions’ face. Her wings flapping a bit as she recovered, wiping tears from her face, “I promise Bon Bon, I’ll try harder, really.”

Bon Bon got up and hugged her friend, “It’s late, I’ve got to go share this with Lyra, but you take care alright? We’ll catch up tomorrow. Maybe we can go out and make you some more friends instead of just me and Lyra and Derpy and a few others eh?”

Hangfire nodded, watching her friend go out the door, standing on the porchway as she slowly faded into the dark. Looking around, she realized, she wasn’t that bad off, she had plenty of friends, yes she did, she didn’t need more! What was Bon Bon talking bout anyways?

Raising a hoof to the sky, she yelled loudly into the street, “I got lots of friends dangit!”

The pony sweeping the street turned and looked at the disheveled figure yelling from the doorway.. “Uh...okay? Good for you?”

Hangfire pinched her nose and sighed, going inside and slamming the door, hoping her bath hadn’t turned cold.

------------------------------------------------------

Wrapping her scarf around her neck, making sure her saddlebags were tight enough, Hangfire prepared for her day at work. Or night, whichever, she wasn’t exactly thrilled. The weather was going to turn cold, now that the Running of the Leaves was over, cold fronts had to be moved in just right during the day, and kept in place at night. She’d always wondered who did that while everypony was asleep, and now she knew.

She shot off her balcony, heading upwards to the local weather offices over Ponyville. Running over everything, she’d got her lunch packed, her bags with weather gear, goggles, gotta have goggles. I closed the house, made sure the fire was banked, already did the shopping for tomorrow. Everything was good, she thought, as she swooped through the skies, enjoying the lift under her wings, every moment flying a gift.

Sleeping during the day might take some getting used to, but that’s alright, I’ll work my way back up. Her optimism ran high, thinking things might not be that bad, it’s only temporary from what the boss said.

She came to a halt on the landing, touching down neatly with all four hooves, a smile brightening her face as she trotted up to the door. I can do this, I can, I’ll work hard, show them I’ll stay away from the lightning, just be the best weather pony I can. Yeah, that’s it!

Her smile got a bit wider as she opened the door, letting the warm air hit her and entering the ready room, only to be stared at by the group of ponies already there. A particularly fat stallion was standing there with a managers cap on, giving her a glower and a simple sentence that left no doubt in her mind.

“Yer late luscious, get in gear and get yer plot moving..”

Well ponyfeathers......

Comments

[VinnyMartello]

I'm loving the story - but watch those commas and quotes!